1
Q
why are scouts in honeybees important?
A
- go find food
- come back to colony and share info about where food is
- important for survival of colony
- tell distance, amnt of food, quality from waggle dance
2
Q
what is the observation for odour of waggle dance in bees?
A
most recruits take longer than expected to find food source
3
Q
what is the RQ of odour of waggle dance in bees?
A
- do bees also use odour to find the food?
4
Q
why was windspeed measured in odour bee experiment?
A
important factor to see movement - has impact on how quickly can reach destination
5
Q
what are the methods of the odour bee experiment?
A
Placed food at feeding station 200 m due east of hive
Recorded wind speed and direction
Marked bees with transponders from the hive that had not visited the feeding station
Released bees at the hive or at one of three other locations
Measured movement of bees
- no odour associated w/food
6
Q
what were the results of the bee odour experiment?
A
- in response to waggle dance, bees flew towards the feeder
- when recruits released further from release point, were not able to get to food source, but did follow info given from waggle dance - showed bees need other cues (odor)
7
Q
what was the conclusion of the bee odour experiment?
A
waggle dance does signal distance and direction of food, additional work has demonstrated that beed need more cues (odour) to find exact food location
8
Q
explain the different alarm calls given by vervet monkeys
A
Monkeys make different alarm calls based on different types of predators
Alarm call means individual making alarm call has to behave appropriately
If eagle related – need to look up to find predator
leopard – keep same direction of gaze
Snake – look down
9
Q
what does an alarm call tell
A
what type of predator to allow for appropriate response
10
Q
what did the video of prof robert seyfarth explain
A
Old times thought monkeys make involuntary noises (etc. surprise, etc.)
Verbal monkeys - small grey, found to give different alarm calls to different responses, others act appropriately – if leopard – look around, if eagle call – look up, if eagle call – all look up
11
Q
is language arbritary?
A
yes - we give meaning to sounds
12
Q
explain Dr. Penny Patterson
A
Became interested in using gerstural language with other species
Koko able to learn number of signals (hang gestures), koko able to combine number of gestures to make really short, 2-3 word sentences
Is beginnings of language
At a lower level (not human level)
Shows communications exists at different complexities depending on species
13
Q
what was the observation of titmouse alarm calls?
A
Tufted titmice produce alarm calls
Vocalization can be visualized in sonogram
14
Q
what was the RQ for titmouse?
A
Do alarm calls of titmice differ with the size and degree of threat of a predator?
15
Q
what were the methods of the titmouse experiment?
A
- placed model 1m away from feeding station
- recorded titmouse mobbing behaviour w/different treatments (small high risk and large low risk predators)
- control: empty platform
16
Q
what is mobbing behaviour?
A
birds will all fly at predator
17
Q
what were the results of the titmouse experiment?
A
Produce more D notes in alarm calls during high-risk predator treatments
More mobbing behavior during high-risk treatments with small raptors than larger ones or control
18
Q
what was the conclusion in titmouse experiment?
A
Titmice produce different alarm calls that lead to different behaviours
19
Q
what are chemoreceptors?
A
the oldest sensory receptors are chemoreceptors as they detect chemical stimuli, common in all organisms that have been studied
20
Q
what are sensory receptors?
A
nerve endings that respond to an internal or external environment stimuli
21
Q
how can signals be received by sensory system?
A
felt, seen, heard, smelt,
22
Q
what is a receptor?
A
structure allowing for some change when signal comes in ( - as sound wave comes in, fluid in inner ear moves and sensory receptors pick up on fluid movement and know something is heard)
23
Q
what is gustation
A
sense of taste, detection of dissolved chemicals
24
Q
what is olfaction?
A
sense of smell
25
what are pheromones?
volatile (air borne/gaseous) compounds that are species-specific (released from one individual has impact on individual of same species) and affect the behaviour of another individual of the same species. they can also be deposited directly onto a substrate and be non-volatile (rubbing can transfer pheromones through fur to fur contact)
26
what is the bruce effect?
disruption in the implantation (failure) (a fertilized egg docking unto the uterine wall to establish pregnancy) due to presence of a novel male - dramatic physiological effect
27
what is the Vandenbergh effect?
decrease in time to sexual maturity due to presence of a novel (new to the environment of a female) adult male
28
are the bruce and vandenbergh effects seen across a variety of species big to small?
yes
29
where does fertilization occur?
fallopian tube
30
what is implantation?
the process where a fertilized egg moves from the fallopian tube to the uterus for attachment (implantation), typically occurs 4-5 days after mating
31
what does day zero refer to?
the day of mating
32
what steroids are found in male urine?
testosterone and 17B-estradiol
33
what is a castrated male?
A castrated male is an individual whose testicles, which are the primary reproductive organs responsible for producing sperm and sex hormones have been surgically removed or rendered non-functional.
34
what are antibodies?
The primary function of antibodies is to recognize, bind to, and neutralize specific molecules or molecular structures.
35
what is aromatase?
Aromatase is an enzyme that assists with hormone production.
36
explain how implantation can be blocked from the presence of a novel male in rats
- in female rate, implantation typically occurs 4-5 days after mating
- on day 0, male rat will deposit a vaginal plug into the female's vaginal canal as a mechanism to prevent another males' sperm from competing if the female were to mate with another male
- graph shows percentage of pregnancies blocked decrease after days when novel male is introduced is increased
- data suggests that when a new/novel or unfamiliar male is introduced to an environment where a female has recently mated w/a different male and before the implantation window (day 0,1,2,3) , the implantation can be inhibited, effectively blocking the pregnancy but not from day 4 and beyond (pregnancy maintained)
37
who is a stud
novel male
38
what does a vaginal plug indicate?
day 0 - day mating happened (dissolves after a period of time)
39
when does the presence of a novel male allow for disruption of pregnancy?
early day 0,1,2,3
40
are castrated males able to disrupt pregnancy and why?
no - because have very little hormone in their urine, unless given 17B-estradiol or testosterone injections then able to
41
when are female rats able to retain their pregnancy in presence of a novel male?
when given 17B-estradiol antibodies
42
when does an intact male rat lose the ability to disrupt pregnancy?
when aromatase inhibitor is administered to an intact male
42
how does a novel male rat release his pheromones to be in contact w/female?
will spray urine at female and steroids in urine will be sniffed by female and be transmitted
43
how do females receive estradiol from novel males?
sniffing
44
explain the indirect exposure parsdigm
- two large, hardy, aggressive and interested males at top
- different strain of female at bottom (sniffing around)
- wide gird mesh separates two, no direct contact
- if males urinate, will urinate on female - wanted to see if direct access to male urine will make female reach sexual maturity faster (compared to no males)
45
what were the results of the indirect exposure paradigm?
- males in female cage produced more estradiol and more testosterone compared to isolated males
- body mass and uterine mass of females housed w/males increased the most compared to isolated females
- not much difference in ovarian mass
- shows pheromones not only volatile
46
how were effects of male urine measured on the female rats?
by measuring their reproductive tissues
47
why does it makes sense to measure female rate reproductive tissue to observe results?
ovarian mass would increase bc eggs releasing and getting ready to be fertilizes, body mass would increase to store more fat and get ready for pregnancy, uterine mass would increase bc pregnancy in uterus
48
why is communication complex?
expressed through different ways - pheromones, sounds, signals, etc.
49
50
what is aposematic colouration?
- bright colouration indicates poisonous
- fitness interest of signaler and receiver, predator and prey is similar - both want to live
51
when are signals accurate?
when they cannot be faked. - (only large male frogs produce low vocalizations, difficult for small animals to make such low sound),
when they are costly to produce or maintain - tells predator who to stay away from
51
what is an example of an animal who's signal is accurate bc its costly to produce or maintain?
Asian rhinoceros beetle
Costly to funnel resources to produce horn and heavy to carry
Horn itself is accurate indicator of high quality male – predator doesn’t wanna mess with them, shows resilience bc can carry around big horn
52
what is a co-evolutionary arms race?
Signalers are selected to produce signals that affect the behaviour of receivers, and receivers are selected for better discrimination abilities
53
when can signals be inaccurate indicators?
when the fitness of a signaler and receiver differ - ex mimicry
54
what is mimicry
Adaptive resemblance of one species (the mimic) to another (the model)
55
why is mimicry a false signal
False signal bc is different species but morphology mimics other species offering some kind of advantage (e.g predator stays away)
56
what is batesian mimicry?
A palatable mimic resembles an unpalatable model
Model is poisonous, members of other species model in some way too
Overtime evolutionary, predator can be more aware of how to identify, but still very good mimic strategy
57
what is an example of aggressive mimicry?
- venus flytrap - attracts insects in the same was as flowers
- aggressive bc not good outcome for insects
58
what is aggressive mimicry?
In Aggressive mimicry, a predator mimics a nonthreatening model so that it can approach prey
59
what are bystanders (eavesdroppers)?
A third-party individual that detects a signal transmitted between a signaler and a receiver
60
what are audience effect?
Occurs when the presence of bystanders influences the behaviour of a signaler
61
define signal
an evolved trait that is selected for its effect on the behaviour of a receiver
62
define communication
the process in which a specialized signal produced by one individual affects the behaviour of another
63
can some signals be rapidly turned on and off and other persist for longer?
yes
64
what are cues
consistent aspects of the environment that can guide behaviour in a way that enhances fitness
65
define waggle dance
behaviour performed by a honeybee scout that recruits workers to exploit a food source
66
who did the honeybee communication research?
Karl von Frisch
67
describe the waggle dance
moving in a figure eight pattern
68
define an alarm call
a unique vocalization produced by social animals when a predator is nearby
69
can we be sure that signals encode information about conditions like the presence of a specific predator?
no. - can be giving directions as to how to behave
70
why is the assumption that signals encode specific information is problematic?
1 - can imply a language-like meaning of communication which is difficult to document
2 - can encourage attempts to characterize the information encoded in a signal, rather than focusing on factors that shape signal properties
71
what signals should selection favor?
signals that travel most readily through a particular environment, with the least degradation and are easy to detect by a receiver
72
what should a signal do for effective communication?
must travel through the environment from one individual to another
73
explain chemical signals
- can be transmitted through water or air (when volatile), relatively long lasting, can travel great distance, can be deposited on a substrate, can control strenght of signal by controlling amount deposited, can travel through environmental barriers such as dense vegetation
- once transmitted, chemical signals cannot be modified, effectiveness is greatly impacted by weather conditions
74
explain auditory signals
- can travel around solid obstacles
- can be modified rapdily by a sender depending on conditions
- can be produced at different amplitudes
- can attenuate (lose energy) rapidly as they move through an environment, limiting effective range
- broadcast widely and can be detected by many individuals (including predators)
74
explain visual signals
- move rapidly through environment, can be detected quickly allowing a faster response
- can be perceived over large distance in good daylight, can be blocked by obstacles
- insufficient in deep ocean, musky water or night, or dense vegetation
75
explain the temperature affecting ant chemical signals experiment
- wanted to test how the surface temperature affects the chemical food trail signal left by the ants
- counted the number of workers on feeding trails over several days and measured the surface temperature
- saw ant activity decreased as surface temperature increased
- to see persistence of pheromones on heated surface, created a food patch and created two paths to food: original and novel
- heated both bridges
- for lower temperatures, ants used original bridge but for higher temperatures, no differences in bridge preference
- results showed pheromones ineffective communication method at high temperatures
76
what visual signals are the most effective?
visual signals contrasting w/background colours
77
explain the habitat light environment affects fish visual signals experiment
- wanted to see whether a male's reproductive success would be highest in habitats where his body colour contrasts the most w/his background, because his visual signal would be most effective here
- found that blue morph male contrasted most with beach habitat and yellow morph male contrasted most strongly w/root habitat
- quantified reproductive success of males in both environments by observing behaviours of all males (sneaker and other) and females in both environments
- saw that each male morph has highest reproductive success in habitat where its morphology contrasted most
78
explain the habitat structure affects bowerbird auditory signal experiment
- wanted to see if frequency call is lower in more densely vegetated habitats
- recorded male advertisement calls from locations differing in habitat and vegetation structure, used sonograms to analyze calls, quantified vegetation
- saw that call structure varied across sites and was related to habitat type
- minimum and dominant frequencies were lowest in more dense areas
79
when are the 3 times signals are accurate?
- if fitness interest of both signaler and receiver are same
- if signals cannot be faked
- if costly to produce or maintain
80
explain the courtship signalling in wolfspiders experiment
- wanted to see if males in good condition performed leg raises (mating behaviour) at a higher condition compared to poor conditioned males
- tested by doing experiments where environment of male and female was manipulated
- males in good condition did display leg raises at higher rate, and remained consistent over all 3-4 test groups
- females that mated w/good males had more offspring that lived longer
- when good male mated w/female in poor condition, his leg raises declined over days
81
define aposematic colouration
brightly coloured morphology in a species that stands out form the environment and is associated w/noxious chemicals or poisons that make individuals unpalatable or dangerous prey
82
what is an opercular flare?
an encounter in which the opercular, the bony flaps that cover the gills, flare out at the opponent
83
which individual usually wins a contest in fish?
individuals w/high flare rates and long flare durations
84
how is the opercular flare costly?
fish engaged in long flare displays in calm water must sacrifice normal flapping movement and water ventilation because in calm water, ventilation is accomplished through opercular movement
85
explain the fighting fish opercular display experiment
- wanted to see if males in best physiological conditions will perform opercular displays at higher rate than those in poorer conditions
- placed fish in water differing in oxygen levels (for fish to stress) and recorded fish behaviour w/no intruder and intruder present (mirror image), recorded % of time fish had operculum flared out
- results showed fish in normoxic water displayed significantly more than fish in hypoxic water - only good condition males can display at high rate, opercular displays are accurate signal of male condition
86
who wins a coevolutionary arms race?
no one, evolution of the signal trait and its effect on receivers is an ongoing process; is influenced by fitness benefits and costs of signal production and accuracy in the signaller and discrimination ability in the receiver
87
define mimicry
the adaptive resemblance of one species to another
88
define batesian mimicry
the resemblance of a palatable mimic to an unpalatable model that predators have learned to avoid
89
define aggressive mimicry
a situation in which a predator mimics a nonthreatening model
90
explain the aggressive mimicry in fangblenny fish
- bluestriped fangblenny are hypothesized to be the aggressive mimics of juvenile cleaner fish, only eating the healthy scales, mucus and dermal tissue of client fish
- collected damselfish was collected and parasited (control group was not)
- noted amnt of time damselfish was cleaned, which fish ended interaction (client or cleaner), how many time damselfish avoided interaction w/cleaner, number of successful attacks by fangblenny, and if damselfish aggressively chased cleaner or fangblenny
- results showed parasited individuals ended fewer interactions and avoided cleaner fish less - shows parasited individuals benefited
- fangblennies attacked parasited and unparasited at similar rate, but more successful attacks on unparasited
- results show fanglenny are agressive mimics of juvenile cleaner fish
91
define cleaner fish
fish that feed on ectoparasites and the dead skin of other fish
92
what is intraspecific
within-species
93
why is intraspecific deception less common?
1 - intraspecific interactions are more common - individuals learn to ignore inaccurate signals faster
2 - natural selection will favour receivers that can discriminate accurate from inaccurate signals
94
what are false alarm calls?
alarm calls that are produced when no threat is nearby
95
what is the likely reason that topi male make snort vocalizations when they spot a predator?
to inform a predator they have been spotted - take out element of surprise so likely won't hunt
96
define sexual deception hypothesis
the hypothesis that males will produce deceptive signals to females in order to enhance their own reproduction
97
explain the topi antelope false alarm calls
- had sexual deceptive hypothesis for topi males
- observed behaviour, territorial location, alarm snorts and departure attemps of antelope for some time
- also recorded all alarm snorts to see if true and false differ
- results showed false alarm most likely given when estrus female was trying to leave male territory
- female moved towards middle of male territory after hearing false alarm, and males also had additional matings before she left
- females cannot distinguish btn false and real alarm calls
98
what is estrus
the sexually receptive, fertile period of a female
99
explain the capuchin monkeys and inaccurate signals experiment
- focused on antipredator hiccup call - 2 or more elicit antipredator behaviour
- made food patches of different platforms in tree branches, manipulating the amount and distribution (clumped and easy to guard or scattered and hard to guard) of food
- focused on one group of capuchins, focused on one individual at a time, observing all hiccup calls, location from food
- results showed that subordinates do produce inaccurate alarm calls to distract others to get access to clumped food
- caller often benefitted from deception bc most cases receiver abandoned food allowing caller access
100
define extended phenotype signals
a signal expressed beyond the body of an individual that often includes modification of the environment
101
explain extended phenotype signals
- persist longer than behavioural signals
- continue in absence of signaler
- flexible bc can be modified w/changed in environment conditions
- most costly to produce and maintain so considered reliable indicators of the phneotype of the signaler
- provide additional signal to others about condition of signaler
102
explain the bowerbirds construct and destruct experiment
- hypothesized that a bower functions as a signal of male quality - quantity of decoration at a bower correlates w/male quality
- observed bowerbirds for some time, quantified size of each bower, number of decorations in bower and number of copulations male obtained
- results showed top 5 males obtaining over 50% copulations - bowers do function as signals of male quality, only males in best conditions can decorate and defend bowers
103
explain the sticklebacks experiment
- stickleback males construct and decorate their nests
- wanted to see if males use contrasting coloured objects as extended phenotypes signals to attract females
- captured males and offered them colourful objects to decorate their nest - all used
- manipulated quantity of decorations at nest, randomly assigned to different nests to control for nest building behaviours
- one male randomly assigned to decorated nest as control
- male leashed but still able to perform mating displays
- females first looked at male, then allowed to interact
- recorded time spent w/each males and if mated
- results showed all females preferred male w/more decorated nest and spent more time w/them
- females that mated did w/decorated nest male
- shows that decorating objects used as extended signals to attract females and females prefer to mate w/males w/decorated nest
104
define bystander/eavesdropper
a third-party individual that detects a signal transmitted between a signaller and a receiver
105
define communication network
a communication system involving a signaller, a receiver and at least one bystander
106
define the audience effect
the presence of a bystander influences the behaviour of a signaller
107
explain the squirrel eavesdropping experiment
- tested if squirrels might alter feeding preferences for feeding on cacheable food items that could be stolen after being cached
- made food patches w/hazelnuts and pea gravel: one contained unshelled hazelnuts, other had shelled hazelnuts (caught more commonly)
- last few pieces of food very hard to get out, the number of food items left called giving-up density (GUD) indicated how much effort squirrel allocated to feeding in that patch
- recorded number of nuts left in each patch for: 1) close blue jay vocalization 2) far vocalizations 3) vocalizations of other non pilfering animals as control
- results showed squirrels consumed same number of noncacheable (shelless) nuts per food patch, but more cacheable nuts (w/shells) left when vocalizations were nearby
- results indicated squirrels eavesdrop on heterospecific jay vocalizations to learn birds' presence and location
- squirrels reduced the amount of effort devoted to getting cacheable good when jay's are close likely bc food likely to be pilfered if cached
108
define cache
food stored in a hidden location for later retrieval
109
what is pilfering?
conspecifics or heterospecifics can steal food
LifeSci 2D03
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